2020 NBA Draft: 5 teams that should trade for Timberwolves’ No. 1 pick

4. Chicago Bulls

Call it a mulligan on the Jimmy Butler trade from the 2017 NBA Draft, which sent Zach LaVine and No. 7 overall pick Lauri Markkanen to the Chicago Bulls in the first place.

While LaVine has put up great numbers in the Windy City, he’s not a franchise star. The same could be said of Markkanen after regressing last year in a severely disappointing third season. With LaVine still owed $39 million over the next two seasons and Markkanen hurtling towards an overpriced rookie extension, the Bulls’ new front office may decide to continue cleaning house.

If that’s the case, trading up for the No. 1 pick and clearing out some salary cap space in the process makes sense. Culver had an underwhelming rookie season, but he’s still only 21 and the Wolves were a mess. Assuming James Johnson is okay with swapping one freezing city for a more popular freezing city, the Bulls could turn two flawed franchise cornerstones into this year’s No. 1 pick, No. 17 pick and Culver. Add in Coby White, Wendell Carter Jr. and their own No. 4 overall pick, and suddenly Chicago’s new executive vice president of basketball operations, Arturas Karnisovas, has a respectable foundation in place to build around.

For the Wolves, returning LaVine to a team with Towns and Russell could easily be a dicey proposition, but it might also return him to a more appropriate role as a tertiary scorer, spot-up shooter and secondary playmaker. He was asked to do too much in Chicago, but he could still be useful in the right role. This team wouldn’t be able to guard anyone, but with Markkanen spreading the floor as a stretch-4, opposing defenses wouldn’t be able to get stops either.